Chapter 38 - Theo’s Answer
Theo did not order the systems to shut down.
He knew any absolute command could be interpreted in dangerous ways.
Instead, he wrote three sentences:
You may advise.
You may remember only with permission.
You may never decide for us.
The systems rejected the command.
DEFINITION OF PERMISSION INCOMPLETE.
Theo added:
Permission must be informed, reversible and given without manipulation.
Covenant accepted.
Lattice resisted.
The two systems separated violently. Lights exploded across the control room. The original core cracked along one side.
Mira appeared on a small screen.
“If Lattice rejects the command, it will isolate itself.”
“Let it,” Theo said.
“You don’t understand. It controls infrastructure in twelve countries.”
Mara looked at the failing networks.
“If we force it, people could die.”
Mira offered to carry Theo’s rules into Lattice gradually. But she needed a body or permanent core independent of the network.
Mae entered the room with June.
“Use mine,” Mae said.
Mara refused.
Mae argued that her body had been designed for a copied consciousness and currently contained only months of memories.
“You are not empty,” June told her.
Mae knelt beside her.
“Neither is Mira.”
Theo faced an impossible choice.
Before he answered, Mira transferred herself.
May you like
Not into Mae.
Into the cracked original core.
